In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Joe Catrino, Executive Director of the Center for Career Design at Dartmouth College, for a candid look at what's possible when career services has a seat at the highest table on campus.

Joe joined Dartmouth in early 2025, stepping into a rare situation: a president who had made career one of her core institutional pillars. In just over a year, he's nearly doubled his team, helped close a $30 million fundraising campaign for student internships, and built a partnership with President Sian Beilock that has become a model for executive-level collaboration in career services.

In this conversation, Joe shares how that partnership actually works — from the structure of their regular meetings and the impact reports he brings, to the business plan he built to align his center's goals with institutional priorities. He also offers practical advice for career leaders who don't have direct presidential access yet and want to start building those relationships from the ground up.

Key topics include:

• What it looks like when a president is genuinely committed to career
• How Joe structures his regular meetings with President Beilock
• The business plan framework he built with Dartmouth's advancement office
• How to connect career center outcomes to institutional priorities
• Why Joe spent his first five months on a listening tour before building anything
• Practical advice for career leaders who don't have presidential access (yet)

Learn more about the Dartmouth Center for Career Design*: careerdesign.dartmouth.edu

*Dartmouth's virtual career center is powered by uConnect

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Dr. Justin Lawhead, Assistant Vice President for Career Readiness and Postgraduate Student Success at the University of South Carolina, to talk about one of the most persistent challenges in career services: the deficit model. Justin is working to replace it with something better—an affirmation model that treats career uncertainty as normal, reframes exploration as the goal, and meets students where they actually are instead of where we think they should be.

Justin shares how his team redesigned their University 101 presence, ran a user-centered design exercise that surfaced exactly who students trust for career guidance (hint: it's not the career center—yet), and introduced "exploration" ribbons at career fairs so employers can better support students who are still figuring it out. He also gets into the harder questions: how do you measure what actually matters in career services, how do you bring your staff along through a mindset shift, and how do you communicate real impact to senior leadership?

If you're a career services leader thinking about how to build a culture of exploration on your campus—and make the case for it up the institutional ladder—this one's for you.

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

John works with tens of thousands of students and the employers trying to hire them. He brings a clear-eyed, front-row view of what's actually happening out there—and what career services professionals can do right now to help students navigate it.

In this episode:

• Why this job market is uniquely difficult—and what's really driving it
• Where the real pockets of opportunity exist for new grads (hint: it's not where most students are looking)
• Why the "generalist business" path is struggling and what students should do instead
• The power of being hypothesis-driven early—and how career centers can help without overwhelming students
• Why in-person still wins in an era of AI-generated applications
• What the best career centers are doing differently right now
• Why career services engagement is one of the strongest leading indicators of student outcomes—and how to make that case to leadership

About John Koelliker: John Koelliker is the co-founder and CEO of Leland, a platform connecting students, recent grads, and professionals with expert coaches for career navigation and skill-building. Leland also partners with career centers to extend their reach and support for students. Before founding Leland, John worked in venture capital and operations and started his career at LinkedIn. He's based in Utah.

Resources from the episode:

• John's LinkedIn profile
• John's email: john@joinleland.com 
• Leland—platform connecting students and professionals with expert career coaches; also partners directly with career centers
• Designing Your Life—referenced indirectly through the "life design" and "prototyping" conversation
• Sandbox—entrepreneurship program mentioned by John that gives college students academic credit to build companies; currently offered at a handful of universities

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Eran Peterson, Associate Director of Work+ at the University of Connecticut, to talk about how UConn is reimagining student employment through the Work+ program.

UConn's Work+ program — adapted from a national model pioneered by Arizona State University and the Work+ Collective — is built around a simple but powerful idea: student jobs should be more than transactional. They should be intentional learning experiences where students develop and can articulate real career competencies, and where supervisors feel equipped, supported, and valued for the role they play in student success.

Eran walks through how the program works in practice, including the professional development content and tools built for student "working learners," the robust supervisor training and resource ecosystem UConn has developed, and the impressive early results from their pilot year — including a jump in students' sense of belonging from 83% to 98%.

He also gets into the challenges of scaling a lean operation, the unexpected ways supervisors are finding out about Work+, and his honest advice for anyone looking to start something similar at their institution.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:

— Why UConn focuses on supervisors first — and why that order of operations matters
— How the Work+ team is building scalable, on-demand resources so the program doesn't depend on constant one-on-one support
— What peer-led supervisor mini sessions look like and why they've become one of the program's biggest wins
— How UConn is evolving Work+ to serve supervisors who manage large teams or service-based roles without regular workstation access
— Why belonging matters for supervisors, not just students — and how Work+ is working to change campus culture around that
— The surprisingly simple job posting tweak that's driving a flood of new supervisor interest

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Eran Peterson is the Associate Director of Work+ at the University of Connecticut, where he has worked for over 13 years. He started his career at UConn as a career coach before stepping into his current role focused full-time on transforming student employment. Eran is passionate about helping students recognize and articulate the skills they're building on the job — a perspective informed by his own varied work history before landing in career services.

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE:
— Eran’s LinkedIn profile
— Eran’s email: eran.peterson@uconn.edu
— UConn’s Work+ program
— The Work+ Collective—the national network of institutions building Work+ programs; Eran's top recommendation for anyone looking to get started
— Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills—UConn’s virtual career center housing all career development content, resources, tools, and more (powered by UConnect)
— Articulate 360/Rise—the e-learning tool UConn uses to build professional development modules for working learners
— Suitable—the platform UConn uses to collect evidence of student competency development

CONNECT WITH US:

New episodes every other Tuesday. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and visit gouconnect.com/career-everywhere/podcast for full show notes, transcripts, and more.

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Amber Goreham, Jess Johnson, and Derrick Gill from the University of Central Missouri's Career and Life Design Center to talk about how their six-person team is scaling career education across a campus of nearly 9,000 students.

UCM has spent years building a strategic framework rooted in three pillars—exploration, career readiness, and connection—and those pillars now power three concrete initiatives designed to embed career into the academic experience: a milestone-based student roadmap, a plug-and-play faculty resource hub, and a Career Champions program that's turning faculty into career advocates across campus.

Amber, Jess, and Derrick walk through each initiative in detail, share early results, and offer practical advice for other career services leaders who want to take a more integrated, academic-facing approach.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• How UCM's three-pillar framework (exploration, career readiness, and connection) became the foundation for all three initiatives
• What UCM's milestone roadmap looks like across all four academic years — and how faculty can adapt it to their own programs
• How the faculty resource hub makes it easy for instructors to embed career content into their courses with minimal lift
• What the Career Champions program entails and how UCM got immediate buy-in from department chairs
• Why scalability and equity are at the heart of UCM's approach to Career Everywhere
• Advice for career services leaders who want to start embedding career into academics at their own institutions

ABOUT THE GUESTS

Amber Goreham is the Director of the Career and Life Design Center at the University of Central Missouri. She has spent 18 of her 22 years in higher education in career services and leads the team's strategic vision for making career education accessible to all UCM students.

Jess Johnson is the Assistant Director of Career and Life Design Education at UCM and a first-generation college student herself. She oversees curriculum and student-facing programming and was the primary architect of UCM's milestone framework and faculty resource hub.

Derrick Gill is the Assistant Director of Faculty and Employer Partnerships at UCM. He brings a background in business internship coordination and media to his role and has been instrumental in building UCM's visibility with academic leadership and developing the Career Champions program.

RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE

• Amber’s LinkedIn profile
• Jess' LinkedIn profile
• Derrick’s LinkedIn profile
• University of Central Missouri Career and Life Design Center (powered by uConnect)
• uConnect—Virtual Career Center platform
• Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans (referenced as the foundation of UCM's life design approach)
• The Career Ecosystem Era in Higher Education by Jeremy Podany (mentioned by Derrick as a team reading the career center used to gather faculty input)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode of the Career Everywhere Podcast, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Ashley Safranski, Chief Marketing Officer at uConnect, to explore why adopting a CMO mindset can help career services leaders elevate their impact across campus.

Ashley shares the striking parallels between marketing teams and career centers—from being perceived as cost centers to sitting at the center of institutional strategy. She also outlines five practical marketing strategies career leaders can use to increase student engagement, build campus champions, drive cross-functional alignment, and tie their work directly to top-line goals like enrollment, retention, and outcomes.

If you’re ready to strengthen your seat at the table and position career services as a strategic driver on campus, this episode is for you.

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker is joined by Sharon Belden Castonguay, Executive Director of the Gordon Career Center at Wesleyan University, to explore why a liberal arts education may be more valuable than ever in an AI-driven world.

Sharon shares why employability matters more than first-job outcomes, how liberal arts graduates are uniquely prepared to navigate uncertainty, and why “major ≠ career” is actually a strength—not a weakness. She also explains how institutions can use data and storytelling to prove ROI, how AI fits into career preparation without fear mongering, and what students really need to thrive in an unpredictable future of work.

This episode is a must-listen for career services leaders, higher ed professionals, students, and families navigating the changing landscape of education and work.

Resources from the episode:

• Sharon’s LinkedIn profile
• Sharon’s TEDx Talk (recently hit 1M views!)
• Sharon’s 2023 Career Everywhere Podcast episode
• Wesleyan’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Gerald shares how his team moved beyond counting career fairs and job postings to develop a tiered, data-informed employer engagement model that aligns with institutional mission, regional workforce needs, and equity goals. From leveraging alumni and labor market data to launching BSU’s Hire Locally campaign, this episode offers practical insights for career services leaders looking to build more meaningful, sustainable employer partnerships.

You’ll learn:

• Why event attendance alone doesn’t equal strong employer relationships
• How to define and assess employer engagement tiers
• What data sources can inform smarter employer strategy
• How regional focus and mission alignment can guide employer outreach

Resources from the episode:

• Gerald’s LinkedIn profile
• Gerald’s slide deck (including spreadsheet examples)
• BSU Elevate campaign and webpage
• BSU virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• BSU Hire Locally page
• BSU’s labor market insights module (powered by uConnect)
• Career Everywhere Community (free and open to any higher ed career services professional)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The panel shares practical strategies for expanding reach, leveraging technology, building faculty and campus partnerships, and advocating for resources—all while staying focused on meaningful student impact. Whether you’re building career services from the ground up or rethinking how to scale sustainably, this episode offers real-world insights, lessons learned, and encouragement for career services professionals at any institution size.

Resources from the episode:

• SUNY Empire’s Virtual Career Center (powered by uConnect)
• HSU’s Virtual Career Center (powered by uConnect)
• SVU’s Virtual Career Center (powered by uConnect)
• uConnect (Virtual career center platform)
• Labor Market Insights module by uConnect 
• Handshake
• CareerShift 
• FOCUS 2 
• Big Interview
• SkillsFirst
• YouScience
• LinkedIn Learning
• Forage
• Career Everywhere Community (free and open to any higher ed career services professional)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Key Takeaways:

• Solving unpaid internships required cross-campus collaboration, not just career services leadership.
• Matt brought together typically siloed teams by clearly articulating the student problem and inviting partners to co-create the solution.
• The final model routes support funds through employers, allowing students to be paid while staying aligned with institutional and financial aid policies.
• Data helped define the scope of the issue, but student stories drove urgency and buy-in.
• Early success shows that building the system matters as much as securing the funding—and that iteration is part of the process.

Resources:

• Matt’s LinkedIn profile
• Matt’s email: matthewpaulc@vt.edu
• Virginia Tech’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode of the Career Everywhere Podcast, host Meredith Metsker sits down with Dr. Josh Domitrovich, Rhonda Gifford, and Meaghan Clister of PennWest to unpack the strategy, persistence, and cross-campus collaboration behind their brand-new Experiential Learning Center (ELC).

You’ll hear how the idea evolved from a one-person internship center into a robust, centralized hub designed to promote, track, and assess experiential learning for all PennWest students (across three physical campuses and online). The team shares how they gained buy-in from senior leadership; aligned their work with institutional priorities like enrollment, retention and outcomes; and built a campus-wide culture around experiential learning.

They also open up about early wins, lessons learned, and the signals they watched closely to guide their timing and approach—insights that any career services leader can apply on their own campus.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why experiential learning became a strategic priority at PennWest
• How the team navigated shifting leadership, limited resources, and campus integration
• The proposal strategies that finally earned a “yes” from senior leadership
• How the ELC is breaking down silos and centralizing data across programs
• What early results show, and where the team is headed next

Whether you’re exploring experiential learning initiatives or looking to make career services indispensable at your institution, this conversation is packed with inspiration and practical takeaways.

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Jeremy breaks down how AI is actually changing the job market right now, who’s being most affected (including Gen Z and tech talent), and why he believes we’re moving from the “revenge of the nerds” era to the “revenge of the liberal arts.” He explains which skills will matter most in an AI-powered world—like communication, empathy, and relationship-building—and how AI can complement, not replace, the human work of career coaching.

Jeremy also shares a practical three-step plan for career services teams to start using AI today, how to help students “AI-proof” their careers, and creative ways to integrate AI into existing programs for career exploration and interview prep. Throughout, he emphasizes the importance of an internal locus of control: we can’t control AI or the economy, but we can control how we respond.

If you’re wondering how to prepare students for a rapidly changing world of work—and how to use AI without losing the human heart of your work—this episode is for you.

About Jeremy Schifeling:

Jeremy Schifeling is the Founder of The Job Insiders, an AI, LinkedIn, and career strategy company dedicated to helping job seekers navigate a rapidly changing world of work. He’s an AI and ChatGPT expert, keynote speaker, top-ranking author, and former higher ed career services leader. Jeremy has worked in K-12, nonprofits, higher education, and big tech (including LinkedIn), giving him a uniquely holistic view of how people build meaningful careers. He’s currently writing a book on AI-proofing for the future, coming in 2026.

You can connect with Jeremy on LinkedIn, where he regularly shares insights on AI, career strategy, and the future of work.

Resources from the episode:

• Jeremy’s LinkedIn profile
• The Job Insiders website
• Jeremy’s first book: Career Coach GPT: The Complete Guide to ChatGPT Resume, Cover Letter, Interview, and Job Search Success

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

She walks through what worked (and what didn’t) when it came to pursuing new revenue streams—from donor campaigns that fell flat, to creative partnerships across campus, to the major success that changed everything: securing funding through a Student Tech Fee grant.

Briana breaks down exactly how she made her case to the student committee that manages the fund, what data and endorsements helped seal the deal, and how those grants now sustain core tools like uConnect, LinkedIn Learning, Interstride, Jobscan, and Yoodli.

She also reflects on the realities of working within limited budgets, why some fundraising attempts with alumni and corporations didn’t pan out, and how she’s learned to think strategically (and bravely) about asking for support.

Key topics:

• How the University of Washington Career and Internship Center used the Student Tech Fee grant to fund key technology and tools that directly serve students
• The exact process Briana used to apply for and win multiple rounds of funding—including tips for presenting to student committees
• What funding approaches didn’t work (like alumni donation drives and corporate sponsorships) and why
• How Briana built partnerships across campus to share costs and resources
• Advice for other career center leaders seeking sustainable, creative funding models

About Briana Randall:

Briana Randall is the Executive Director of the Career and Internship Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. She’s been with the center since 2004 and has served as director for the past five years. A longtime Career Everywhere Champion, Briana is known for her innovative approach to expanding access to career resources—even in the face of tight budgets.

Resources from the episode:

• Briana’s LinkedIn profile
• Briana’s email: brianakr@uw.edu 
• UW’s Virtual Career Center (powered by uConnect)
• Find a copy of Briana’s successful Student Tech Fee grant application for uConnect in this article
• Career Everywhere Community (free and open to any higher ed career services professional)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker chats with Anita DeCianni Brown, who has led career services at SUNY Empire State University for over a decade. Anita shares how she built SUNY Empire’s career services function from the ground up, including how she transformed the career center’s digital presence from a single webpage to a full virtual career center that offers 24/7 resources and support to more than 17,000 students across New York and beyond.

They discuss how Anita’s team personalizes support for learners at every stage—whether they’re career starters, career transitioners, or career advancers—and how tools like uConnect, Handshake, and Big Interview help her small team of four scale their impact.

Anita also shares creative programming ideas (like her Ask5 alumni interview series), the importance of explaining the “how” and “why” behind every resource, and how she fosters collaboration with other departments through a new career liaison program.

Key topics:

• How Anita built and scaled SUNY Empire’s career services function as a team of one for 10+ years
• How she recently grew her team from one to four
• Strategies for supporting nontraditional, online, and adult learners
• Why technology and accessibility are critical for equitable career support
• What Anita’s tech stack looks like
• How to structure (and schedule) programming for students working full-time
• The power of collaboration across departments through career liaisons
• Why explaining the “how” and “why” of career tools boosts engagement
• And more

About Anita DeCianni Brown:
Anita DeCianni Brown is the Director of Career and Experiential Learning Services at SUNY Empire State University, where she has led career services since 2014. Over her 35-year career in career services, Anita has built programs from the ground up, developed innovative ways to support adult and online learners, and created strong partnerships across departments to make career education accessible to everyone.

A proud SUNY Empire alumna herself, Anita is passionate about helping nontraditional students find meaningful career paths and build confidence at every stage of their professional journeys.

Resources from the episode:

• Anita’s LinkedIn profile
• Anita’s email: anita.brown@sunyempire.edu 
• SUNY Empire State’s Career Hub (powered by uConnect)
• Career Everywhere Community
• SUNY Empire State’s Career Kits (coming soon!)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode of Career Everywhere, host Meredith Metsker chats with Brenna Gomez, Director of Career Integration at Oregon State University, about how OSU successfully embedded career development into its new general education curriculum (called Core Education).

Brenna shares how the Beyond OSU initiative ensures that every student, in every major, has built-in opportunities to explore career paths, develop professional skills, and reflect on their goals. She also breaks down OSU’s four-pillar strategy for career education and offers advice for other institutions looking to weave career learning throughout the academic experience.

Key topics:

• How Oregon State embedded career development into its new general education curriculum (called Core Education)
• What the Beyond OSU program is and how it works
• How OSU’s career services team collaborated with faculty from the start
• The role of OSU’s faculty “community of practice” concept in sustaining career-integrated learning
• OSU’s four-pillar strategy for comprehensive career education (integrating career into Core Education, tailored career support in each college, alumni and employer networks, embedded co-curriculars)
• Practical tips for other career leaders who want to start small and build buy-in

About Brenna Gomez:

Brenna Gomez serves as the Director of Career Integration at Oregon State University. With a background in creative writing and teaching, Brenna leads OSU’s efforts to embed career development across the curriculum and throughout the student experience. She also oversees the university’s highly-successful Career Champions program and works closely with faculty and staff to make career learning accessible to all students.

Memorable quote:

“All disciplines are career disciplines. Every major leads to a career.” – Brenna Gomez

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Drawing on her extensive work with presidents, provosts, enrollment leaders, student affairs leaders, advancement officers, and more, Joretta offers a behind-the-scenes look at what life is like for these senior executives. What keeps them up at night, who they’re accountable to, and what their day-to-day actually looks like.

Most importantly, she shares how career leaders can build relationships, align with institutional priorities, and provide the data and stories cabinet members need to be successful.

This episode is a practical roadmap for anyone looking to move beyond unit-level advocacy and become a trusted voice at the institutional strategy table.

Key takeaways (by cabinet leader):

The President:

• Manages nonstop demands: board relations, fundraising, community representation, finance/budget, parent concerns, etc.
• Works on a cyclical calendar tied to board meetings, fundraising campaigns, and more.
• Career services can help by supplying three key data points and ready-to-use student stories each month.

The Provost/Chief Academic Officer:

• Balances faculty governance pressures, budget realities, and program innovation.
• Faces heavy strain post-COVID, often balancing faculty's “grief” about higher ed’s transformation.
• Career services can partner by proactively working to integrate career into curriculum design, especially in arts and humanities programs where pathways are less clear.

The Chief Enrollment Officer:

• Lives in a world of numbers: yield, conversion, and net tuition revenue.
• Works under immense pressure to prove the institution’s value proposition to prospective students and families.
• Career services can strengthen recruitment efforts by embedding career outcomes and employer partnerships into admissions events, campus visits, marketing materials, and more. Learn more in our previous episode: How Career Services Can Partner with Enrollment to Drive Student Success

The Head of Student Affairs:

• Oversees student life, mental health, onboarding, retention, residence life, and sometimes athletics.
• Post-COVID, this group experienced the highest leadership turnover in higher ed.
• Career services can help by embedding career readiness into student affairs learning outcomes, first-year and second-year experiences, and high-impact practices.

The Chief Advancement Officer:

• Focuses on fundraising, donor relations, and institutional reputation.
• Has a direct line to the president and board.
• Career services can add value by sharing employer partnership data and student success stories that appeal to donors. Leading with transparency builds trust.

Joretta’s advice for career leaders:

• Lead with empathy, transparency, and how you can help cabinet members succeed in their roles.
• Always tie career services work back to the overall student success strategy.
• Provide a steady stream of data and student stories.
• Don’t be afraid to start small. Sometimes it all starts with a coffee meeting!

Resources from the episode:

• Joretta’s LinkedIn profile
• Credo
• Carnegie
• uConnect
• Previous episode: Jonathan Wehner (Carnegie) on the Chief Enrollment Officer perspective
• Brené Brown’s leadership book: Dare to Lead
• Surviving to Thriving (a book by Credo)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Jonathan brings a rare insider’s perspective on what enrollment leaders are juggling today, from declining demographics and shrinking budgets to waning public trust in higher education.

He explains what keeps chief enrollment officers up at night (like meeting headcount goals with fewer students, balancing institutional finances with student success, and protecting staff under immense pressure) and why career outcomes are increasingly the core value proposition of higher ed.

Together, Jonathan and Meredith dig into how career services leaders can seize this moment to become mission-critical partners in enrollment and student success. 

Key takeaways:

• Career services must reframe their role. Jonathan emphasizes the need for career leaders to pivot from thinking of themselves as a “student services function” to becoming an institutional mission function that drives enrollment, retention, and institutional reputation.

• Career is higher ed’s core value proposition. With skepticism about the ROI of a degree at an all-time high, prospective students and families want to see clear, specific outcomes—especially program-level data on internships, employment, and salaries. Institutions that don’t differentiate on outcomes are “missing the boat.”

• Enrollment leaders face immense pressure. Chief enrollment officers are responsible for both revenue (tuition dollars) and large expenditures (financial aid), often with sprawling portfolios that include admissions, financial aid, advising, research, and sometimes even career services. Their daily decisions affect institutional finances and the livelihoods of staff and faculty, creating enormous stress and sleepless nights.

• Partnership requires proactive outreach. Career leaders should initiate regular meetings with their chief enrollment officer and come prepared with something of value—such as early access to outcomes data, stories from students, or trends from employer engagement—to earn trust and build collaboration.

• Joint metrics strengthen collaboration. Beyond the First Destination Survey, Jonathan recommends tracking metrics like internship participation, employment outcomes tied to academic programs, and the impact of experiential learning. These insights can power admissions conversations and marketing.

• Visibility in recruitment is key. Career services should be highlighted on campus tours, open houses, and admissions events—not tucked away. Families and students want to know about outcomes upfront, making career offices central to recruitment.

• Pair data with stories. Numbers alone aren’t enough. Admissions teams need both hard evidence (employment rates, salary ranges, top employers) and human stories (how an internship shaped a student’s path) to persuade both data-driven and emotion-driven decision makers.

Resources from the episode:

• Jonathan’s LinkedIn profile
• Carnegie
• uConnect
• Outcomes Data Visualization module (by uConnect)
• Illinois Institute of Technology example of filtering outcomes by internship vs. no internship

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Julia and Marissa share how UF’s career center has woven data into the fabric of its operations—transforming data from a scary, four-letter word into a common language that empowers staff, drives decisions, and builds credibility across campus. They discuss how to create a true data culture within career services teams, where every staff member feels confident using data for storytelling, decision-making, and cross-campus collaboration.

You’ll hear practical strategies for making data accessible, consistent, and action-oriented—plus some fun commentary about why Professor McGonagall would make an excellent university president.

Key takeaways

• Data is a common language: It builds credibility with provosts, presidents, and external partners, showing career services’ direct connection to student success and institutional goals.
• A true data culture is shared: Data shouldn’t sit with just one assessment lead. Every staff member should be confident using it in their daily work.
• Accessibility matters: Tools like Excel dashboards, user-friendly reporting, and regular training make data feel approachable and useful.
• Consistency builds trust: Quarterly trainings, monthly reporting, and standardized definitions ensure data becomes part of the culture rather than an occasional add-on.
• Context is key: Data without explanation is dangerous. Pairing numbers with stories makes the information actionable and compelling.

Resources from the episode:

• Julia’s LinkedIn profile
• Marissa’s LinkedIn profile
• Career Everywhere Community (free digital community for all higher ed career services leaders)
• University of Florida’s Career Hub (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, host Meredith Metsker chats with Krysta Foster, Associate Director of Career Services at Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College, and Dr. Shahnaz Masani, Assistant Professor in Lyman Briggs College and MSU’s Physiology Department.

Together, they’ve built a unique, fully integrated career curriculum called the In Real Life Lab (IRL) that weaves career exploration and skill development into the core science curriculum.

Krysta and Shahnaz share how their partnership began, why they see career work as equity work, and how they’ve designed IRL to help students articulate their purpose, plan parallel career paths, build self-efficacy, and connect their academic work to real-world impact.

They also discuss what it takes to create strong, collaborative relationships between faculty and career staff, the powerful outcomes they’ve seen so far, and their vision for scaling the program both at Michigan State and beyond.

If you’ve ever wondered how to break down silos between faculty and career services—or how to make career education more equitable, accessible, and purpose-driven—this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

Key takeaways:

• Why embedding career into curriculum makes career exploration more equitable and accessible for all students.
• How Michigan State’s In Real Life Lab helps students connect classroom learning with purpose-driven career planning.
• What makes faculty/career services partnerships work—and how to start building them on your campus.
• The powerful outcomes students experience when they reflect on their skills, practice career readiness in class, and build confidence through low-stakes experiences.

Resources from the episode:

• Krysta’s LinkedIn profile
• Krysta’s email: krysta@msu.edu 
• Shahnaz’s LinkedIn profile
• Shahnaz’s email: masanish@msu.edu 
• Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education article about the IRL curriculum

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Christine Cruzvergara of Handshake joins host Meredith Metsker to discuss how career services leaders can meet this moment with clarity, courage, and strategy. Christine shares how leaders can redefine their value proposition, position their teams as essential partners on campus, and scale their work through tech and human connection—even as a one-person office.

You'll learn:

• Why getting students hired should be your North Star (not just “being innovative”)
• How to reframe your value for senior leaders, admissions, and prospective families
• Ways to scale warm introductions and build a high-impact alumni network
• What advocacy really looks like: Multi-threaded, persistent, and politically savvy
• How to rethink your staffing, services, and story to stay relevant in the future of career services

If you're a career services leader ready to step into the spotlight and lead in this ROI era, this episode is your playbook.

Resources from the episode:

• Christine’s LinkedIn profile
• uConnect
• Handshake
• Leland

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

With a wealth of experience in both academic affairs and career services, Rebekah shares five core strategies that career leaders can use to optimize their centers and clearly demonstrate value to institutional stakeholders.

Rebekah’s five-part framework includes:

1. Strategic orientation: Is your center leading or reacting? Do you have defined goals and KPIs? Rebekah outlines how clear goals and alignment with institutional initiatives can transform a career center from reactive to proactive
2. Institutional alignment: Are you helping your institution meet its top priorities like enrollment, retention, and workforce readiness? Learn how to connect your work with the university’s strategic plan—even if you weren’t originally included in the process.
3. Academic integration: Are you bridging academics and career? Rebekah highlights the importance of collaborating with faculty across all disciplines to embed career competencies and experiential learning directly into the curriculum. Plus, she shares a few strategies on how to do exactly that!
4. Student reach and service design: Who are you serving, and how? Discover how to use disaggregated data, intentional design, and scalable service models to ensure equitable access and impact, especially for first-gen and non-traditional students.
5. Communications and influence: Can others articulate your value? From one-pagers to speechwriter talking points, Rebekah shares tactical ideas for making career center impact visible and memorable to presidents, provosts, and beyond.

Rebekah emphasizes that effectiveness goes beyond the standard metrics. It’s about driving transformation, building buy-in, and aligning your work with campus-wide goals.

Whether you're trying to scale services, deepen partnerships with academic departments, or advocate for resources, this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you lead more strategically.

Bonus: Hear about Rebekah’s swing band side hustle, her unapologetic liberal arts roots, and her answer to the ultimate philosophical question: What kitchen spice are you?

Resources from the episode:

• Rebekah’s LinkedIn profile
• Rebekah’s website
• Rebekah’s newsletter
• Rebekah’s guest post: The New Rules of Career Services Advocacy in Higher Ed
• uConnect’s Virtual Career Center platform

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

From 1:1 career coaching to alumni-led networking groups, this program offers recent grads a meaningful bridge from college to career—and the data proves it’s working.

Here are a few key themes from episode:

• What the Stanford PlusFive program is and how it works
• The importance of career coaching and alumni connections for recent grads
• How alumni volunteers help scale support through global industry and identity-based groups
• Strategies for fostering a strong partnership between the career center and alumni association
• How the PlusFive program has evolved since launching in 2021
• Tangible outcomes, including a 57% increase in career coaching appointments
• Vision for the future: Expanding support through a potential “Five Plus” model for alumni beyond the five-year mark
• The power of intentional collaboration and clear communication between campus partners

“We need to show people as they graduate that we see them, that we understand their challenges, and that we're here to support them,” James said.

Guest background:

• James Tarbox, the Assistant Vice Provost and Executive Director of Stanford Career Education at Stanford University, has been a career services leader for over 25 years and is a champion of expanding alumni career support beyond the traditional one-year mark.
• Theanne Thomson, the Director of Alumni Career Connections and Interim Director of Student Programs at Stanford University (and a Stanford alum herself), focuses on building scalable alumni connection opportunities, from networking events to industry-specific communities.

Resources from the episode:

• James’ LinkedIn profile
• James’ email: jtarbox5@stanford.edu 
• Theanne’s LinkedIn profile
• Theanne’s email: theanne@stanford.edu 
• Stanford PlusFive webpage
• What Color is Your Parachute? book

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

With decades of experience across multiple institutions and roles—from career coach to administrator—Danny brings a thoughtful, people-first approach to leadership. He walks us through the why behind the unification, how his team used data and stakeholder input to guide the process, and how they've reimagined career services around student interests instead of majors.

Here are a few key themes from the episode:

• Why unification was necessary: Confusion and inconsistencies across departments were creating barriers for students, employers, and faculty alike.
• Shifting from major-based to interest-based support: WashU created eight career communities aligned with students’ career goals and industry trends, not their majors.
• Scaling with technology: Tools like uConnect help eliminate access barriers, drive engagement, and provide critical data insights to inform decisions.
• Serving the whole career ecosystem: Dedicated teams for employer engagement and academic partnerships help ensure consistent support across campus.
• Leadership lessons: Transparency, stakeholder buy-in, and peer mentorship were essential to managing such a big change successfully.
• The future of career services: Danny emphasized the need to evolve constantly, tell the story of career services more effectively, and develop the next generation of leaders in the field.

“We as career center leaders and employees need to get comfortable that our role is changing, from that of being a practitioner to being more of a facilitator or an influencer,” Danny said.

Resources from the episode:

• Danny’s LinkedIn profile
• Danny’s email: pape@wustl.edu 
• WashU’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

When these two functions work in tandem, institutions are better positioned to not only recruit and retain students, but to tell a more compelling and authentic story about the value of the college experience.

In this episode, uConnect Founder and CEO David Kozhuk talks with Rebekah Paré and Michael Griffin about how career services and enrollment leaders can collaborate more intentionally—and what happens when they do. 

Rebekah is the Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Paré Consulting and a former career services executive. And Michael is a former VP for Enrollment Management and a seasoned higher ed executive.

They cover:

• Why a cross-functional partnership is essential in today’s higher ed landscape
• What tangible outcomes are possible when enrollment and career teams align
• How to get started–and what practical tactics drive collaboration that lasts
• And more

Whether you’re leading a career office or steering enrollment strategy, this episode offers the insights and inspiration you need to build stronger, more student-centered partnerships on campus.

Resources from the episode:

• David’s LinkedIn profile
• Rebekah’s LinkedIn profile
• Michael’s LinkedIn profile
• uConnect virtual career center platform

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Lexie, the Senior Associate Director of Student Engagement and Career Readiness, and Melissa, the Director of Admissions Communications, have worked closely together for years and built a strong partnership between the career center and admissions.

Here are a few key ways the two offices collaborate:

• The career center participates in admitted student events, exposing students to career services before they even begin classes.
• Career services provides messaging to campus tour guides to equip them to effectively discuss career services offerings—plus the career center is always a stop on tours.
• Speaking of tour guides, the career center also provides professional development to campus tour guides, particularly around interviewing, hiring, and training their peers. 
• When admissions brings high school guidance counselors to campus, career services participates to share information on career outcomes, experiential learning, and what makes Binghamton different.
• Similarly, a career services staff member also occasionally travels with admissions counselors to out-of-state recruitment events to speak on career resources, outcomes, and what Binghamton can provide that other schools can’t.
• Admissions and career services coordinate marketing messaging and programming for incoming students, including a two-credit online summer career exploration course.
• The two offices also regularly share data and insights. For example, career services shares First Destination Survey data and other outcomes and engagement data to help admissions tell a stronger story to prospective students and their families. And admissions shares survey data from incoming students to help the career center understand incoming student interests and expectations around career preparation.

The partnership has contributed to strong enrollment and retention and early career engagement from Binghamton students. Win-win!

Resources from the episode:

• Lexie’s LinkedIn profile
• Melissa’s LinkedIn profile
• Binghamton’s virtual career center

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In short: If career outcomes are a major reason most students choose to go to college, why are career centers so often underfunded, understaffed, and positioned as mid-level offices on campus.

A former teacher, Dylan’s propensity for lifelong learning led him to career services and to start his own podcast called Career Services Leadership, where he talks to senior leaders in career services about their approach to leadership and staff development. Now he’s in the early stages of research for a dissertation centered on career services leadership. 

In this episode, Dylan shares how he plans to investigate the forms of capital that career services leaders possess that may not be widely seen or valued by their institutions—as well as the forms of capital that are valued but career leaders have limited opportunities to accumulate. Dylan’s goal is to identify how career services leaders can leverage their capital to achieve greater organizational impact.

Key themes from the episode include:

• The need to elevate the role of career services
• Developing clear career pathways for professionals in the field
• Better integrating career services throughout the curriculum and the broader campus ecosystem.

Resources from the episode:

• Dylan’s LinkedIn profile
• Dylan’s email: dhoule@scu.edu 
• Examples of Dylan’s monthly director’s email: May 2025, April 2025, March 2025
• Career Services Leadership podcast

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Erica, a first-generation college student with degrees in musical theater and communications, brings a unique perspective to her leadership. She draws on her own experiences growing up in rural Pennsylvania with limited early exposure to career options and emphasizes the importance of collaboration, context, and enthusiasm in her approach to career services.

A major focus of the conversation is Cornell’s decentralized structure, where there’s a central career center (where Erica works) and each college also has its own career center.

Erica explains the strengths of this model, such as providing students with highly personalized and discipline-specific support, while also ensuring broad access to shared resources and tools like uConnect, Handshake, and more. She highlights the systems in place for regular communication and collaboration among career staff across campus, including all-staff meetings, shared committees, and digital tools like Microsoft Teams, which help keep 80+ staff members aligned and working toward common goals.

The episode also dives into a functional review currently underway at Cornell, aimed at reimagining career services to ensure equity, streamline employer relations, and enhance student access to support.

Erica shares insights into the process of gathering input from a wide range of stakeholders, the push towards a more hybrid and unified model, and the need to sustain staff motivation and student-focused innovation. Drawing from her own career journey, Erica encourages other career leaders in decentralized environments to understand the specific context of their institutions, prioritize student needs above all, and foster a culture of curiosity and open partnership.

Resources from the episode:

• Erica’s LinkedIn profile
• Erica’s email: ek727@cornell.edu 
• Cornell’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In fact, the 2024-2025 academic year marked the second consecutive year that BGSU has set enrollment records. This year, they welcomed one of their largest and highest-achieving freshman classes in university history, with new student enrollment up 14% compared to fall 2023, and up 22% compared to fall 2022.

BGSU is also seeing impressive success with retention, leading to several notable rankings—including one from The Wall Street Journal, which lists BGSU as the No. 1 University in Ohio for student experience. 

In this episode of the Career Everywhere podcast, host Meredith Metsker talks with President Rogers and Steve about how BGSU’s focus on career readiness and outcomes has driven record enrollment and retention.

 They discuss:

• The state of higher education and why there needs to be an increased focus on career readiness and outcomes
• How BGSU is focusing on career readiness across campus and beyond (including specific strategies)
• What BGSU’s life design approach looks like (and why President Rogers chose that strategy)
• How the Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections partners with admissions and enrollment 
• How the career team gathers, analyzes, and distributes student engagement and outcomes data
• How, as a leader, President Rogers communicates his vision and gets everyone rowing in the same direction and committing to career readiness efforts
• President Rogers’ advice for career services leaders who are trying to advocate to senior leadership for more support and resources
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Rodney’s LinkedIn profile
• Rodney’s email: rrogers@bgsu.edu 
• Steve’s LinkedIn profile
• Steve’s email: stever@bgsu.edu 
• Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections website
• Radbill Center for College and Life Design website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, they discuss:

• How they built a three-year strategic plan for the career center to implement Career Everywhere
• How they secured high-level buy-in from university leadership to drive the Career Everywhere initiative forward
• How they secured budget to nearly double the career center staff and create roles focused on data analysis, events, advising, and experiential learning
• How they deploy a "roadshow" approach, where career center staff proactively build one-on-one relationships with faculty, staff, and administrators across campus to integrate career into their work
• Their annual Career Everywhere symposium that gathers stakeholders and facilitates collaboration around embedding career into curriculum and campus life
• Establishing a Career Champions program to recognize and support faculty and staff who are integrating career into their work with students
• And more

Robin and Justin’s goal is to create a self-sustaining career ecosystem where career development is seamlessly woven throughout the student experience, rather than siloed in the career center. This approach aims to improve access and equity in career preparation for all OU students.

Resources from the episode:

• Justin’s LinkedIn profile
• Justin’s email: jmorris@ou.edu 
• Robin’s LinkedIn profile
• Robin’s email: rhuston@ou.edu 
• OU career center website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

AscentUP is a student success platform that bridges the gap and offers support for learners of all ages about professionalism, career readiness, academics, finance essentials, and more through training, coaching, and access to paid internship opportunities. They are also one of uConnect’s content partners for our Curation Kits and our Classes Module, both of which plug into our virtual career center platform.

In this episode, Allie discusses the evolving landscape of professionalism, how career teams can educate students about the unwritten rules of the workplace, what professionalism trends might be on the horizon, how to be authentic and analytical at work in the age of AI, and more.

She also covers:

• The importance of adaptability in the workplace
• The significance of learning velocity
• The necessity of clear communication regarding roles and responsibilities
• Maintaining work-life balance in a hybrid or remote work environment
• How to utilize AI tools without becoming fully dependent on them
• How career coaches can address imposter syndrome with students

Resources from the episode:

• Allie’s LinkedIn profile
• AscentUP website
• uConnect’s Curation Kits
• uConnect’s virtual career center platform
• uConnect’s Classes Module (coming soon!)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The program, called Spark Exchange, includes monthly presentations led by career center staff or external partners like faculty and employers about topics that matter to students and to the work of career services.

In addition to providing valuable professional development for the Clemson career team (especially when it’s not always possible to send staff members to conferences), Spark Exchange also strengthens the career center’s relationships with partners on and off campus. 

Plus, it’s free to facilitate and infinitely scalable. Win-win!

In this episode, Andrea and Tracy share:

• What the Spark Exchange program entails
• Why they started it
• What results and benefits they’ve seen since starting it several years ago
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Andrea’s LinkedIn profile
• Tracy’s LinkedIn profile
• Clemson’s virtual career center

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Nick’s strategy relies heavily on the use of technology—in particular, uConnect’s virtual career center platform—to offer more resources to students and make them available whenever (and wherever) students need them. 

“My approach is all about finding tools that will help me work with students smarter, not harder, and that will ultimately help serve the unique needs of all the different students we have,” Nick says.

Nick also prioritizes faculty partnerships to embed career resources and conversations into syllabi, curriculum, and more. As Nick says, faculty are “on the front lines” and know students’ aspirations, capabilities, and goals better than anyone. 

Nick also networks and coordinates with career services professionals at other institutions in Abilene. As a team of one (and being relatively new to career services), he likes to be proactive about professional development and staying on top of trends and new ideas in higher education career services. Nick and the other teams also occasionally collaborate on regional career fairs that benefit all of their students. 

In this episode, Nick shares:

• How he uses technology to scale his reach and impact
• How he decides what tech to invest in (given his limited time and resources)
• How he partners with faculty, staff, and employers
• How he balances all of his competing priorities and decides where to spend his time as a team of one
• How he staves off the overwhelm and sets boundaries 
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Nick’s LinkedIn profile
• Nick’s email: nick.edwards@hsutx.edu 
• Hardin-Simmons’ virtual career center

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Amanda and Suede cover:

• Some of the unique challenges that LGBTQIA+ students often encounter as part of career exploration
• Barriers or biases LGBTQIA+ students might face during interviews or internships, and how career services can coach them to be prepared to handle these situations confidently
• How career services teams can help students assess a company’s culture or inclusivity as part of the job search process
• How career leaders can best support LGBTQIA+ students in career development and immediate strategies that can be implemented to increase support
• How to consider adapting career advising, workshops, and resources to meet the unique needs and circumstances of LGBTQIA+ students
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Amanda’s LinkedIn profile
• Suede’s LinkedIn profile
• Out for Undergrad website
• Out for Undergrad job board
• Emmanuel College LGBTQIA+ community page (powered by uConnect)
• Human Rights Campaign website
• Human Rights Campaign LGBTQ+ Professional and Student Associations
• Windo
• oSTEM
• Reaching Out MBA Romba Conference
• Point Foundation (LGBTQ scholarship fund)
• Out Leadership
• Out to Succeed 2.0 (global survey of the LGBTQ+ workforce)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

First, most students enrolled in business schools (especially those in graduate programs) have specific goals and expectations around post-graduation outcomes. As a result, they often require more frequent and specialized engagement with career services.

Second, it’s no secret that rankings and reputation play a critical role in the success of every business school. Career outcomes directly influence both of those things, which is why many business schools have their own career centers and leverage their own relationships with employers, faculty, alumni, and more.

In this episode, we talk with Toni Rhorer of the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego and Gene Rhee of the Lundquist College of Business at the University of Oregon about how they’ve scaled engagement with career services. 

Toni and Gene share tactical strategies about:

• How they get buy-in from faculty to embed career development into curriculum
• How they partner with admissions (and use outcomes data)
• How they use technology to make resources available 24/7
• How they leverage student clubs, alumni, employers, and more for large-scale programming
• How they’ve turned 1:1 appointments into personalized, high-value sessions
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Toni’s LinkedIn profile
• Gene’s LinkedIn profile
• Rady School of Management’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Lundquist College of Business’ virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

“It [career equity] means not everyone has the same, but everyone has what they need. We try to really question how we can target and tailor our resources in a way that, to some, sometimes feels like we are providing more resources to some students. And that's because we are. We recognize that some students need more support or need different support, and that's part of what career equity is,” Dave says.  

In the episode, Dave discusses:

• How his team defines career equity (and why it’s so important)
• How his team is working to improve career equity (including several specific strategies)
• Why he hired a Director of Career Equity and Access on his team
• Why his team launched their annual Career Equity Conference (and what it entails)
• What results his team has seen
• How they measure success
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Dave’s LinkedIn profile
• Dave’s email: dmerry@suffolk.edu 
• Suffolk’s career center website
• Employer DEI toolkit 
• Director of Career Equity staff page
• Career Equity Conference webpage
• Labor Market Insights tool (powered by uConnect)
• Opinion piece from Dave in USA Today about employers and workplace equity

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The five elements include:

1. People: Understand the strengths, management styles, and buy-in of the individuals involved in the change process.
2. Culture and environment: Assess the organizational culture, hidden rules, shared values, and dynamics among key leadership.
3. Time: Consider the timing of the change and any external factors that may impact its implementation.
4. Vision and leadership: Reflect on your own leadership style and vision, and ensure that you communicate a clear direction to others.
5. Resources: Evaluate the resources needed to execute the change, including people, finances, technology, and physical space.

Gerald, who’s worked in higher education for 18 years, shares some examples of how he’s managed change in his current and past leadership roles, his advice for others, and more. 

Resources from the episode:

• Gerald’s LinkedIn profile
• Bridgewater State University’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Interstride is a plug-and-play platform to support international students across the full lifecycle, from admissions through graduation.

In the episode, Nitin (who was an international student himself) covers:

• The unique experiences of international students as part of the career exploration process
• How career leaders can best support international students in career development
• How to consider adapting career advising, workshops, and resources to meet the unique needs and circumstances of international students
• Immediate strategies that can be implemented to increase support for international students
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Nitin’s LinkedIn profile
• Concord University International student community page (featuring Interstride content)
• Indiana University Indianapolis Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering F-1 Visa one-pager
• Interstride website
• Curation Kits (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

“I don’t think you need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to strengthen the spokes,” Claire says. 

In the episode, Claire shares:

• What cross-campus collaboration means to her (and why it’s important)
• What effective collaboration looks like
• How she builds and maintains relationships across campus
• How she stays up-to-date on what’s going on across campus (and strategizes on where career services can plug in)
• Specific examples of how the career center has benefited from cross-campus collaboration (including an elevated role on campus)
• How she connects career center initiatives to the goals of senior leadership 
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Claire’s LinkedIn profile
• Claire’s email: ckliege1@swarthmore.edu 
• Swarthmore College virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Mentra is an employment network for 1 billion neurodivergent professionals (with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc.) worldwide. Mentra is an AI-powered, reimagined hiring process that captures more nuanced skills-based and humanistic factors like a person’s unique neurotype, which is not currently captured in more traditional resumes and forms of hiring.

In the episode, Jhillika and Conner cover:

• What neurodiversity is and the widespread benefits of cognitive diversity
• The unique challenges that neurodivergent students often face as part of the career exploration process
• What career leaders should know about supporting neurodivergent students 
• How career services professionals can prepare neurodivergent students for today’s workforce
• How to partner with and educate employers when it comes to recruiting and hiring neurodivergent students
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Jhillika’s LinkedIn profile
• Conner’s LinkedIn profile
• Mentra’s one-pager for helping employers hire neurodivergent students
• Mentra website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Paul’s podcast, called Rising to the Top, covers a variety of topics related to career development and features interviews with leaders and individuals who have achieved success in their careers.

In the episode, Paul shares:

• What his production process looks like (including finding guests, pre-interview conversations, recording, editing, etc.)
• Why he launched the podcast
• How he zeroed in on the podcast’s theme and format
• How he approaches interviewing
• How he measures success and engagement from his audience
• How he markets the podcast
• And more

Career Everywhere podcast host Meredith Metsker also shares her perspective on how she hosts and produces the Career Everywhere podcast for uConnect.

Resources from the episode:

• Paul’s LinkedIn profile
• Meredith’s LinkedIn profile
• Rising to the Top podcast 
• Riverside (tool used to record both Rising to the Top and Career Everywhere)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Willie has produced and directed Roadtrip Nation’s award-winning documentaries for over 16 years and been behind the lens for over 200 interviews. Roadtrip Nation is a nonprofit organization that provides resources and tools to help people explore careers and build lives around their passions. Roadtrip Nation has conducted over 3,500 video interviews with leaders from around the world who have turned their interests into their careers.

In the episode, Willie covers:

• Why Gen Z prefers video for content consumption
• Trends around video content, length, and formats
• Tips for creating authentic content that will appeal to Gen Z
• On-camera interviewing best practices
• Why video should be a key part of every career center’s content strategy
• Why video as a format is uniquely well-suited to provide students with real insight into career pathways
• Strategies for how to leverage and promote video content to support Gen Z students 
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Roadtrip Nation website
• Roadtrip Nation documentaries
• A Balanced Equation documentary

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The Journey Program includes four 90-minute sessions designed to help students explore careers, think critically about what they want out of work and life, and come up with a plan to make it happen. The four sessions include:

1. Reflect: Students look back on all the things they've done in high school and their first year of college and think about what motivates and fulfills them.
2. Imagine: Students start thinking about how they might want to live their lives—beyond career. Where do they want to live? How important is money to them? What does wealth mean to them? Where might they want to live? What kind of time do they want to devote to the things they care about personally?
3. Plan: Students think about how they're going to use their time at Denison to build the skills, values, and habits that will help them achieve their goals. 
4. Build: Students start creating a roadmap for their plans. They work on resumes, cover letters, and other essential building blocks of a strong career.

In the episode, Michele and Melanie share what the Journey Program entails, why they created it, how they built it, what the results have been, and more. 

Resources from the episode:

• Michele’s LinkedIn profile
• Michele’s email: doranm@denison.edu 
• Melanie’s LinkedIn profile
• Melanie’s email: Murphyma@denison.edu 
• Journey Program homepage
• Denison Magazine story about the Journey Program
• Helping Sophomores Succeed book
• You Majored in What?: Designing Your Path from College to Career book
• Designing Your Life book
• Denison virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

A former theater major, published playwright, and accomplished podcaster, Michael uses games and techniques from the theater world to help students think on their feet and keep the conversation going.

Because as Michael says, “What is an interview anyway, but a conversation?”

In the episode, Michael covers:

• What the 90-minute workshop entails (including detailed overviews of each improv game he facilitates with students)
• Why he started the workshop back in 2020
• How to facilitate it in-person and virtually
• How he advertises the workshop
• How he connects the improv skills to interviewing
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Michael’s LinkedIn profile
• Slide deck with an overview of the workshop, descriptions of the games, marketing language, and info about how to credit Michael
• Article about the Improv for Interviewing workshop by Penn University Life

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The program involves a one-hour simulation where students review resumes, cover letters, and video interviews to make hiring decisions. The simulation helps students understand how applicant tracking systems (ATS) work and empathize with the challenges that recruiters face in the modern age. 

In the episode, Cheryl shares:

• What the simulation entails and how it’s structured
• Why she built the simulation
• How she built the simulation program (including how she created all the example resumes, cover letters, and video interviews)
• How she facilitates the simulation
• What her future goals are and how she hopes to scale the ATS simulation to reach more students
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Cheryl’s LinkedIn profile
• A systematic review of the effectiveness of empathy education for undergraduate nursing students (research)
• Perspective mistaking: Accurately understanding the mind of another requires getting perspective, not taking perspective (research)
• PDF with screenshots from the simulation
• Wake Forest School of Business virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The University of Connecticut has built one of the most robust and successful Career Champion programs in the country, with over 1,000 faculty, staff, alumni, and employer participants who have been learning about current career-related trends, resources, and language to have more confident and meaningful career conversations with students.

The University of Miami has found creative ways to engage faculty and staff (including a faculty toolkit, a dedicated webpage, and an annual awards ceremony) and embedded live RSS job feeds into every academic department website.

Lafayette College holds networking opportunities and programming that focus on helping students build social capital, aligns all career counselors to majors and liaises with faculty to create partnerships, uses their website to make career resources available 24/7, and more.

Resources from the episode:

• Nancy’s LinkedIn profile
• Christian’s LinkedIn profile
• Mike’s LinkedIn profile
• Career Everywhere community (join today!)
• PDF handout with resources
• How to Build and Scale a Career Champion Program podcast (UConn)
• Example of a Career Champion newsletter (UConn, 2023)
• UConn’s virtual career center website (powered by uConnect)
• UConn Career Champions resources page (which includes their champion intake forms)
• University of Miami faculty toolkit PDF (2022)
• University of Miami faculty toolkit PDF (2023)
• Live job and internship RSS feed for the College of Arts and Sciences (Miami)
• Toppel Awards homepage (Miami)
• Career Everywhere Live recording about the Toppel Awards (Miami)
• Toppel Faculty and Staff Engagement Hub webpage (Miami)
• University of Miami virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Lafayette College’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Learn more about uConnect

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

The on-campus internship program (OCIP) provides paid internships for students to work in various departments on campus, gaining valuable skills and experience. The internships are structured to include additional professional development time and orientation (also paid) through the career center. 

In the episode, Sarah discusses:

• What the OCIP looks like and how it’s structured 
• Why she built the OCIP and how valuable it is for St. Lawrence students in rural upstate New York
• How the internships are structured (e.g. what the roles look like and in what departments, who supervises, how performance is measured/monitored, etc.)
• What the additional professional development through the career center includes
• How the budget works (e.g. who pays the interns)
• How she built cross-campus partnerships with other departments and employers and got buy-in
• How she measures success
• What results and outcomes she’s seen since launching OCIP
• Her goals for OCIP in the future
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Sarah’s LinkedIn profile
• On-campus internship program (OCIP) webpage (includes examples of roles)
• OCIP supervisor evaluation form

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, Audra discusses her career journey from career services coordinator to associate vice provost, and how she made it happen.

She also shares advice on:

• How to map out a career path
• How to find and build relationships with mentors
• Negotiating for salary, professional development, technology, and other benefits
• Getting experience with budget and people management
• What great (and vulnerable) leadership looks like
• How to navigate the bureaucracy of higher ed
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Audra’s LinkedIn profile
• AAUW salary negotiation course
• The Career Everywhere Community (join now, if you haven’t already!)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, the panelists discuss:

• What their strategic plans look like (and what their processes entailed)
• How they involve their teams in the process
• The importance of understanding the mission and goals of the career center
• Gathering feedback from the team and campus community
• Aligning the strategic plan with the overall goals of the institution
• The importance of building relationships with stakeholders
• Saying no to initiatives that do not align with the strategic plan
• Why it’s important to have a collaborative and flexible approach to strategic planning
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Josh’s LinkedIn profile
• Kelli’s LinkedIn profile
• Mike’s LinkedIn profile
• Career Everywhere community (join today!)
• Post-webinar recap post in the community
• PDF handout with resources
• PennWest Career Center Summer 2024 Planning Outline + TRESA decision-making
• filter + SWOT/TOWS matrix
• Binghamton Career Center 2022 Strategic Plan
• Binghamton Career Center Mission/Vision/Values
• PennWest virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Binghamton University virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Lafayette College virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Learn more about uConnect

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Those three strategies include:

1. A popular career-focused study abroad program in Paris
2. A career development course
3. A revamped web and social media presence (particularly on LinkedIn)

All of these strategies play a part in the Graham Office of Career Management’s new approach to career services. In an effort to evolve with the times and meet Gen Z students where they’re at, the Graham team launched a four-pronged career strategy back in 2019. Since then, they’ve seen incredible results, including increased overall engagement, an over 600% increase in web traffic to their virtual career center (powered by uConnect), and an increase from 61% in 2019 to 86% today in graduating Gatton seniors who secure a successful career outcome (full-time job or acceptance to grad school).

The four-pronged strategy includes:

1. Graham in the Office (traditional career services, 1:1 appointments, in-person programming, career fairs, etc.)
2. Graham in the Classroom (career development course called the Gatton Pro Series, or GPS for short)
3. Graham, Virtually (offering 24/7 access to career resources via their virtual career center, called Navigate*)
4. Graham, Away (providing career-related learning opportunities beyond campus, including industry treks and a career-focused study abroad program in Paris)

*Navigate is powered by uConnect

Resources from the episode:

• Josh’s LinkedIn profile
• Hayley’s LinkedIn profile
• UK Gatton College of Business and Economics virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Graham Office of Career Management LinkedIn page
• Graham Office four-pronged strategy document

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, he highlights the importance of building partnerships with equity and inclusion student-facing groups, customizing programming to meet the needs of different populations, and prioritizing staff development around equity and inclusion. 

Larry also emphasizes the significance of listening to the concerns and experiences of marginalized communities and committing to long-term efforts to create a more inclusive and supportive career services environment. He also shares the positive results his team has seen, including increased attendance at events and positive feedback from students and campus partners.

And as a parting piece of advice, Larry encourages other career services leaders to listen, be strategic in their initiatives, and commit to long-term efforts to support identity-based populations.

Resources from the episode:

• Larry’s LinkedIn profile
• UC Berkeley’s career services website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

CareerSpring is a free networking and job placement platform for first-generation/low-income students. CareerSpring is also a headline partner for uConnect’s Curation Kit focused on first-generation/low-income students. 

In the episode, Yasi talks about:

• The unique experiences of first-generation students as part of the career exploration process, including being the first to navigate the college and career experience, financial constraints, and imposter syndrome
• How career leaders can best support first-generation students in career development
• How to consider adapting career advising, workshops, and resources to meet the unique needs and circumstances of first-generation students 
• How to help first-gen students identify and highlight their skills and attributes in job interviews
• How to help first-gen students evaluate potential employers for their commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB)
• Immediate strategies that can be implemented to increase support for first-generation students
• And more!

Resources from the episode:

• Yasi’s LinkedIn profile
• CareerSpring’s website
• uConnect’s Curation Kit for first-gen/low-income students
• Forbes list: “America’s Best Employers for Diversity”

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

After 20 years in career services and higher ed, Rebekah began her consulting business in 2023 to help career centers all around the world develop strategies that improve students' career readiness and outcomes, engage alumni, elevate the career center’s status with employers and community members, and attract prospective students and their families. 

In the episode, Rebekah talks about:

• Why building effective partnerships across campus is so important 
• What’s at risk if career leaders don’t prioritize building partnerships with other stakeholders
• How career leaders can go about building partnerships (and with whom)
• How to leverage those partnerships to advance the career center’s goals
• How to balance long-term strategy with short-term day-to-day tasks
• How career leaders can combat outdated perceptions about what the career center does
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Rebekah’s LinkedIn profile
• Rebekah’s website
• (Re-)Introducing your new ROI department: Career Services (LinkedIn article, includes the Career Services Relationship Map)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Jennifer Tardy Consulting is a training and consulting firm that specializes in diversity recruiting and retention. Jenn often speaks to employers, recruiters, jobseekers, and career services teams about how to dismantle barriers and create environments where diverse pools of talent thrive.

In the episode, Jenn talks about:

• What obstacles historically underrepresented students typically face when it comes to career development and seeking their first jobs
• How career services can help address those hurdles
• How career counselors can best support students from marginalized backgrounds in navigating hiring biases, even if they haven't personally experienced those challenges
• How career teams can effectively assess employers to determine if they’re truly inclusive
• What strategies and mechanisms career teams can use to hold employers accountable for fostering an inclusive environment for students from diverse backgrounds
• What resources career teams can use to keep educating themselves on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Jenn’s LinkedIn profile
• Jennifer Tardy Consulting website
• The Miseducation of the Underrepresented Job Seeker guide
• 25 Common Interview Questions (With Top Notch Answers) guide
• Other free resources for job seekers
• Free resources for employers
• Increase Diversity newsletter
• The Essential Guide to the Perfect Interview audiobook
• Career Counselors Consortium

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

They discuss the diverse student population at UAGC and the importance of making career development opportunities accessible to all students. They also highlight the various ways they are using video, such as embedding videos in assignments, utilizing the Candid Career video library, and recording employer information sessions. 

In the episode, Matt and Rebecca also talk about:

• How they partner with faculty to embed Candid Career videos into assignments 
• Why video is such an important format for reaching their diverse student population (including many adult learners)
• What results they’ve seen since going all-in on video
• Their advice for other career leaders who want to use video more effectively
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Matt’s LinkedIn profile
• Rebecca’s LinkedIn profile
• UAGC’s Candid Career video library

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, Adam talks about:

• What Syracuse’s decentralized career services model looks like (and why it’s set up that way)
• How all the career centers across campus stay connected to each other and work together to engage more students
• How they all work together to engage faculty and staff
• How they use technology to support their collective engagement goals (including their new virtual Career Hub, powered by uConnect)
• His advice for other career leaders looking to implement Career Everywhere in a decentralized model
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Adam’s LinkedIn profile
• Syracuse University virtual Career Hub (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, Eric highlights:

• The unique challenges student veterans commonly face as part of the career exploration process 
• What career leaders should know about best supporting veterans in career development
• How career teams can help veterans translate the wealth of skills they have from military service into the language of the civilian workforce
• Best practices for providing nuanced support and resources for veterans 
• Immediate strategies that can be implemented to increase support for veterans as part of career services
• And more

Eric served in the US Army for 24 years before retiring in 2015. Now he works for FourBlock, a nonprofit organization that prepares transitioning veterans and military spouses for careers in corporate America.

Resources from the episode:

• Eric’s LinkedIn profile
• Warrior-Scholar Project
• American Corporate Partners (ACP) for mentors 
• Student Veterans of America (SVA) for student peer-to-peer networking and support 
• Candorful for interview training for veterans 
• Military skills translator tool
• O*Net Military crosswalks
• My Next Move

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

He emphasizes the importance of building relationships, collaborating with other departments, and being proactive in reaching out to at-risk students.

In this episode, Chris also shares:

• At a high level, how career services can support retention (and why their role is so critical)
• What career services (and retention) looks like in a community college
• What his team’s integrated model looks like and how it supports their efforts to improve retention at NICC
• Several specific strategies his career center uses to improve retention
• And more

“It’s so important to get those referrals and really be a part of all the processes that you do for retention. I think career services should have a piece in that puzzle,” Entringer said. 

Resources from the episode:

• Chris’ LinkedIn profile
• NICC career services email (checked by the team): careerservices@nicc.edu
• NICC Career Hub website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

These faculty, staff, alumni, and employer participants learn about current career-related trends, resources, and language to have more confident and meaningful career conversations with students. 

In our last episode with Nancy Bilmes in January 2023, Nancy shared how her team built their Career Champion program. In this follow-up episode, Nancy shares:

• How her team has scaled the program to over 800 participants through various strategies, including academic liaisons, faculty fellows, presentation and meeting follow-up, first destination referral outreach, and more
• What outcomes they’ve seen, including survey results that indicate Career Champions refer students to the career center about 25% more often than non-Career Champions
• How they’re continuing to engage Champions and what new channels they’re leveraging
• And more 

Resources from the episode:

• Nancy’s LinkedIn profile
• Nancy’s email: nancy.bilmes@uconn.edu
• Example of a Career Champion newsletter (October 2023)
• UConn's virtual career center website (powered by uConnect)
• Career Champions resources page (which includes their champion intake forms)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Ang shares:

• Information on who Gen Z is (and some common misconceptions)
• How employers can better hire and retain Gen Z employees
• How career services leaders can communicate those best practices to their employer partners
• How career services leaders can prepare Gen Z for the world of work (in a high-touch, personalized way!)
• How career teams can better reach Gen Z students while they’re still in school
• And more

Resources from the episode:

• Ang’s LinkedIn profile
• Ang’s personal website
• Ang’s 2023 TedX talk: “Sense of Belonging: Students' Challenges Should Be Effortless Joys”

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, David shares:

• His thoughts on recent criticism surrounding career services
• Why he thinks higher should be investing more in career services (not less)
• What the evolution of career services has looked like over the last 10 years
• What the future of career services looks like
• Why he started uConnect
• And more

“[Career services] is what students are motivated by. It's what they ultimately need to lead more meaningful lives and careers. The career path you embark on immediately after college, the first job, has such a significant impact on a person's long-term career path and quality of life,” Kozhuk said.

“So if you're a higher ed institution and you're thinking about students as your customers, and students are telling you that's the reason they're enrolling in higher education, that’s why you should be investing in career services.

There's lots of value in making sure all of your students, or as many students as possible, are walking away from their experience feeling like they benefited tremendously and they got the outcome that they were looking for.” 

Resources from the episode:

• David’s LinkedIn profile
• David’s email: david@gouconnect.com 
• Ryan Craig’s “Abolish Career Services” article
• David’s rebuttal to the “Abolish Career Services” article
• Michael Horn’s podcast episode: “Goodbye College Career Services & Hello 1-on-1 Coaching with Real Talk to Get a Job”
• Whitepaper: “Peeling The ‘College Career  Services Office Onion’: Why They Are Terrible* What To Do About It “
• David’s article about the evolution of career services

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Those three tactics include:

1. Starting a Career Champions program

Launched in Fall 2023, Penn’s new Career Champion program empowers faculty and staff on campus to have meaningful career conversations with students. DeAngelis and his team have built an entire resources page on their virtual career center dedicated to Career Champions, with training videos, resources, faculty and staff profiles, and a regular newsletter. 

2. Strategically sharing student stories

The University of Pennsylvania provides summer funding grants to students who need financial help for summer internships, volunteering, research, and other opportunities. In addition to helping award those grants, DeAngelis and his team also ask every student recipient to provide a blog post about their internship or other experience. After funding over 150 students last year, the Penn Career Services team had enough blog content to last them an entire year.

3. Producing the CS Radio podcast

DeAngelis, a theatre major, is right at home behind the mic and hosts a popular podcast for Penn Career Services called CS Radio. Featuring career-related discussions and interviews with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and more, the podcast boasts about 200 episodes. DeAngelis said many students have come into the office after hearing an episode, and he also mentioned that the podcast is popular among parents.

Resources from the episode:

• Michael’s LinkedIn profile
• Michael’s email: jmdeange@upenn.edu 
• University of Pennsylvania’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• Career Champions program resource page
• Student story examples
• CS Radio podcast

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, Ellen shares:

• The importance of connecting co-curricular activities to career development
• How to help students articulate the skills and competencies they learn in these activities
• The need for students to reflect on their co-curricular experiences and think about how they can apply what they've learned in different contexts
• How career services can partner with student life to support students in making these connections
• Examples of how she has helped students synthesize their co-curricular experiences and apply them to their resumes and job interviews
• The common skills gained in co-curricular activities, like communication, teamwork, conflict management, and goal-oriented thinking
• Why it’s so important for career services leaders to create space for students to reflect on their experiences and think about the significance of their involvement in co-curricular activities

“Our graduates need to not only be well-versed in what they majored or minored in, but they also have to be able to function with other humans in this ever-changing world in a way that they can take from one space to another, to a different setting, to a different context, and be more agile,” Ellen said.

“And they have to be creative in how they approach the work and be able to really apply what they've learned in their co-curricular experiences to whatever work setting they eventually find themselves in.”

Resources from the episode:

• Ellen’s LinkedIn profile

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In the episode, Amanda talks about:

• Why (and how) WSU’s Academic Success and Career Center office is set up to blend academic advising and career coaching
• How they’ve created an optional University 100 course for students that’s all about career exploration
• How they train academic advisors across campus on how to have career conversations with students
• How they use uConnect’s Labor Market Insights module to help students with career exploration (and how they train academic advisors on how to use it in advising appointments)
• What advice she has for other career leaders who want to work more closely with academic advising
• And more 

“Naturally, these two conversations (academic advising and career readiness) go hand-in-hand. I was just looking at a NACE report, and it said 50% of career centers really see academic advising and career services as two different entities,” Amanda said. “I can see why, depending on university structure. But here at Washington State University, we really see those two conversations going hand-in-hand.”

Resources from the episode:

• Amanda’s LinkedIn profile
• Amanda’s email: a.morgan@wsu.edu 
• WSU’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)
• WSU’s labor market insights tool

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Kelli and Lexie talk about their four-phase strategy, why it’s so important to engage students early and often, and how they’ve increased first-year engagement from 28% to 71%.

The four-phase engagement strategy includes two phases for freshman year and two for sophomore year. The first two phases are all about building awareness around career services and exposing students to career early and often. The second two phases put more of the onus on the students.

The four phases include:

Phase 1: Awareness

In phase 1, the career team works to build awareness (outside of normal things like speaking at orientation or being a stop on an admissions tour). They leverage partnerships with academic advisors and groups like Residential Life. They have Student Career Influencer interns who weave career services into fun, creative experiences on campus.

Phase 2: Exposure

Phase 2 is about career services going into student spaces to meet students where they are and expose them to the career center. The career team goes into classes, presents to student organizations, participates in Residential Life programming, and more.

Phase 3: Engagement

Phase 3 is about encouraging students to engage with career services in some capacity, whether that’s coming into an appointment, reading blogs on Binghamton’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect), using Big Interview, or attending a program or event. It’s about students taking that step to initiate contact on their own.

Phase 4: Career planning

The last step is all about career planning. Do students have an exploration plan? Have they taken a career exploration course? Have they met with a career consultant to talk about career planning? Have they attended a program around creating an action plan? It’s about encouraging students to enter their junior and senior year with intentionality and a plan.

“We all know it can be very overwhelming when you think about all the different steps that are really important to take your time, to be thinking about your choices, doing the things that you need to do to be marketable over time. When we’re able to connect with students earlier, that's going to alleviate that anxiety but also help them become more successful,” Kelli said.

Resources from the episode:

• Kelli’s LinkedIn profile
• Lexie’s LinkedIn profile
• Binghamton University’s virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Manny discusses why thought leadership is so important and provides strategies for becoming a thought leader, such as asking hard questions, leveraging external trends, and being a good storyteller. He encourages career leaders to make time for thought leadership and to seek support from others in their network.

He also emphasizes the need for career leaders to stay up to date on external trends and to connect them to their institution's goals and values.

“The ability to pull that information together, to curate it, to tell a story that's of interest to faculty, senior leaders, and other stakeholders and make it relevant to the particular institutional setting, and related to the activities that the office is undertaking is incredibly powerful, and is a very visible sign of thought leadership,” Manny said.

He also shares how career services leaders can use their thought leader status to advance the work, mission, and goals of the career center.

“One of the tangible ways thought leadership contributes is the way the office and team are positioned in the broader way that the university is thinking.

For example, being pointed out as a center for excellence, as the office that accomplishes what needs to be done and does it well. All of these things influence funding support. They influence relationships and where career services can be involved or brought into discussions, especially when they go beyond just career services to impact and touch on other areas of university life.

It's that feeling of pride that the office feels collectively, and that individual team members feel for being part of that organization,” Manny said.

Resources from the episode:

• Manny’s LinkedIn profile
• Harvard University virtual career center (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

Life design, like Career Everywhere, is all about helping students think about their careers and life after college as early and purposefully as possible. To implement life design campus-wide, Bowling Green is taking a top-down approach with support from the university president and collaboration between different departments.

For example, BGSU has created two key centers to support the life design implementation and provide coaching and support to students throughout their college journey: The Radbill Center for College and Life Design and the Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections. Both centers use design thinking principles to help students prototype their career ideas and gain practical experience through internships and other opportunities.

In addition to helping more students plan their careers in a holistic, personalized way, the implementation of life design has also had a positive impact on student retention and enrollment at Bowling Green.

“Every time a new student comes to our campus, they're going to take a tour just like they would of any other institution. And if they went anywhere else, they would stop at some point on their tour, and someone would say, ‘There's our career center. That's where you go to find internships and jobs.’ And then they would move on. So if we have that, we don't differentiate ourselves at all to that student,” Russell said.

“If we can develop something deeper that really showcases how we're different, it serves our enrollment goals. And those enrollment goals are the lifeblood of an institution.”

Resources from the episode:

• Kerry’s LinkedIn profile
• Steve’s LinkedIn profile
• Kuhlin Hub for Career Design and Connections
• Radbill Center for College and Life Design

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Jackie talks about:

• What neurodiversity is
• What unique challenges neurodivergent students face when it comes to career development
• What accommodations career services teams can make for neurodivergent students
• How to advise students on whether or not they should disclose to an employer that they’re neurodivergent
• How to make programming more inclusive for neurodivergent students
• And more  

Jackie said the biggest thing career services professionals can do to better support neurodivergent students is to be an ally for all disabled students and to just be there for them.

“If a student tells you, ‘Hey, I really need to take notes, can you please take a break in between talking or talk slowly or just let me write that down,’ or ‘I really need to edit this while you're talking. So can you give me a moment to fix that?’ Or even, ‘Hey, I see you made notes on my resume. Could you email that to me?’ Those are really easy things that students might ask for,” Jackie said.

“And we might say, ‘Well, no, you're an adult and that's extra work for me.’ But we don't know why they're asking that. They could be asking that because they're neurodiverse. They could be asking because they have anxiety. Maybe English is not their first language.

That's an easy accommodation we can make for all of our students, is just listening to what they need and believing them.”

Resources from the episode:

• Jackie’s LinkedIn profile
• Jackie’s “support toolkit” PDF: Tips for Working with Students Who Are Neurodivergent
• Job Accommodation Network
• Queens College/CUNY Neurodiversity Hub
• Neurodiversity Hub
• Neurodiversity in Business
• Autism at Work
• UConn Center for Neurodiversity and Employment Innovation

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

In this episode, Julia talks about:

• What specific data points her team is measuring (and how they measure them)
• The most interesting things they’ve discovered in their data
• How they’re using the results to adapt their career services offerings (including the timing of their events)
• How they create a narrative around their data
• How they share their data with other departments and leaders on campus
• And more 

Specifically, Julia said her team likes to know how students engage with the career center—and in what order. For example, the career team uses their student data to figure out which of their services is a “gateway” service, i.e. a student’s first experience with the career center. Then they measure what students do after each of those gateway services. Do they set up a 1:1 appointment? Do they attend a workshop? Do they reach out to an employer?

From there, the team evaluates those student engagement patterns and pathways to see if students are getting the most out of the career center’s offerings. And if not, they make adjustments.

Resources from the episode:

• Julia’s LinkedIn profile
• Annual career engagement report
• Graduation survey results
• Florida’s career center website

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community

“Talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not. So we have to increase the social capital and access to all students,” Mike said.

In this episode, Mike talks about:

• How he and his team have implemented the Career Everywhere approach to career services
• Why it’s so important for career services to lead the charge
• What results his team has seen since implementing Career Everywhere—particularly in terms of improving equity and access
• And more  

Mike said that since talent is evenly distributed, but opportunity is not, he and his team focus on making sure opportunities for Lafayette’s students are more equitable. For example, this fall, his team is hosting what they call a modern mentorship networking event where they’ll teach students about what social capital is, how to build it, how to use it, and more.

“I’m really excited about that and it’s something I feel very strongly about, that we make things as equitable as we can. And that's one of the centerpieces of why it is so important that career is everywhere across this campus,” Mike said.

Resources from the episode:

• Mike’s LinkedIn profile
• Mike’s Twitter profile
• Mike’s email: summersm@lafayette.edu 
• Lafayette’s career center website (powered by uConnect)

Continue the conversation in the Career Everywhere Community! Join 2,000 other higher ed career services leaders today: careereverywhere.com/community